Apparatus for shaping elliptical glass tubes



Patented Mar. 20, 1945 UNITED STATES APPARATUS FOR SHAPING ELLIPTI GLASS TUBES .lalrob Dicliter, Berlin-Schoneberg, Germany; vested in the Alien Property Custodian Application March 6, 1941, Serial No. 382,081

In Germany January 11, 1940 Claims. (Cl. 49-7) The present invention relates to a machine for'shaping glass tubes, rods, or similar glass blanks, and more particularly 'to a machine for heating and shaping articles'having a. non-circular cross-section.

' Whileapparatus for'heating and shaping articles having a circular'cross-section have been in use for some years,it has been found that certain difliculties arise when this type of machine is employed to heat and shape articles other than cylindrical objects. If, for instance, a tube of elliptical cross-section be subjected to the heat from a relatively fixed burner and is rotated at constant speed, certain peripheral portions of the walls of the elliptical tube will be heated to a greater degree than other portions of the tube.

It is one of the objects of this invention to provide means for uniformly heating and shaping glass rods or tubes having a non-circular cross-section.

It is another object of the invention to provide a novel arrangement of cooperating mechanisms designed to feed and grip the glass blanks while they pass through the'operations of heating and shaping.

Cther objects will be apparent from the following description of the invention taken. in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of the machine taken on line Il of Fig. 4;

Fig. 2 is a partial side elevation, partly in section;

Fig. 3 is a partial sectiontaken on line 3--3 .of Fig. l; Fig. 4 is a sideelevation of the machine showing the feeding and gripping means;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view'of the machine; and

Fig. 6 illustrates a mlodified form of variable gearing employed in the machine.

In the drawings, it will be seen that the base 1. side frames 2 and 3. and table [constitute a box-like structure designed to support the various parts'of the machine. Standards 5, 6, 1 and 8 support fixed rods 9. H) on which brackets H. 12 are slidably mounted. Joumaled in brackets H, G2 are hollow shafts l3, it on the ends of which are supported chucks l5, 16. Also secured to shafts i3. 14 are the gears 11, 18. The chucks include gripping fingers i9, 20, 2|,

-'il tl e latter converging toward their inner ends cooperating with inclined faces on the chucks to close or open the fingers. Lugs 23, 24 on the fingers engage grooves in shafts 25 keyed meshes with gear 35.

as shaft 36.

at 26 to shafts. l3, l4. Normally the fingers are, urged into closed position by springs 21 surrounding shafts and bearing against shoulders on the shafts l3, l4 and 25. respectively. Fixed a to each shaft 'is a grooved collar 28 adapted to be engaged by bell-crank lever 29, the latter being pivoted at 30 on the uprights 30'. It is apparent that, by rocking lever 29, the shafts 25 and the gripper fingers may be moved outwardly to open the chucks.

Suitably journaled in the side frames 2 and 3 is a shaft 3i having a main drive gear 3i adapted to be driven by any prime mover. Keyed to shaft 3! are a plurality of cams, the purpose l5 and operation of which will be explained hereinafter. Gear 32, loose on shaft 3|, meshes with gear 33 secured to shaft 34 to which latter shaft is fastened an elliptical gear 35. Keyed on shaft 36 is a second elliptical gear 31 which Shaft 36 is suitably jou'rnaled in'a side bracket 38. A relatively long gear 39 is loose on shaft 36 and is provided at one end with a clutch portion 39' adapted to engage a clutch cone 42 slidably'keyed at 43 to Lever 44 pivoted on bracket 38 cooperates with cone 42 to move the latter into engagement with the portion 39 when it is desired to rotate gear 38 with shaft 36.

Keyed to', shaft 40 and movable axially there- 30 with is a gear 4! which meshes with gear 39.

axially movable with respect to each other but rotate together. Gear 41 keyed to shaft 45 moves axially therewith and meshes with gear 88 associated with chuck it. It is to be noted that gear 32 is provided with a coupling portion 32' engageable with an axially movable clutch bone as keyed on shaft 3| at 49. Clutch e2' ss is intermittently coupled and uncoupled by bellcrank 52, the latter being oscillated by cam 54 engaging follower 53. This provides for intermittent rotation of gears 32, 33, 35 and 31. Hence.

grippers are so positioned that the glass blank and heating burner are in the proper relation,

the clutch is coupled and no further adjustment is necessary.

Joumaled in bracket 50 on pin 5| is a threearm lever 52 having on one of its arms a cam follower 88 engageable with cam 84. Another arm of the lever carries counterweight 88 for urging the follower against the cam. The third arm of the lever cooperates with cone 48 to move the latter into and out of engagement with the coupling portion 82 of gear 82. The cam 84 is so designed that only at'predetermined intervals are the several shafts and associated parts referred to hereinbefore rotated by the constanthr rotating shaft II.

As explained herein, the brackets II and I2 are slidable axially of the rods 9 and I and carry with them in their axial movement the chucks and gears for rotating the latter. The means for reciprocating brackets II and I2 comprises a pair of bell-crank levers 81 keyed to shaft 88 (Fig. 8) and having at the ends of their arms cam followers 88, 88, the latter engaging cams 88, 80' on shaft 8|; Also fixed to shaft 88 is an arm 6| having a pin 82 thereon which is connected by links 88 pivoted at 84, 85 to bell-crank levers. 88, 68, the latter being fulcrumed on brackets 80, 01 depending from table 4. The upper ends of levers 88, 88 are connected respectively to brackets II, I2, by connecting links 10, II pinned to the bracket at 12, 18. The risers 14, 18 on cams 80, 80' are so designed that the chucks are moved toward and away from the center of the machine in timed relation to other parts of the machine as will be further explained herein.

At the forward end of the machine a subframe 18 supports a bearing plate 11 having an upright bracket 18 thereon. Pivoted at 18 to bracket I8 is a rockable slide bearing 80 to which is pivot-ally connected at 8I a connecting link 82. This link is pivoted at 88 to one end of lever 88 fulcrumed on shaft 84. The other end of lever 88 carries follower 86 which engages cam 81 having risers 88 thereon. This arrangement provides for vertical oscillation of the bearing 80. Bell crank lever 88 is also fulcrumed on shaft 84 and carries followers 80, 8I which ride on cam 82. Lever 88 is connected at 88 to one end of link 84, the other end of which is connected at 88 to rocker 81, the latter being pivoted at .88to sub-frame 18. Slidably supported in bearing 80 for horizontal reciprocation thereon is a feeder arm IOI. nected to rocker 81 by a link 88 pivoted to the rocker at 88 and to the feeder arm at I00. Risers I02 on cam 82 effect oscillation of rocker arm. It will thus be apparent that the feeder is oscillated vertically and reciprocated horizontally. The feeder arm is provided with a forked extension IOI' having saddles I08 shaped to support the non-circular blanks in such a position that they are readily gripped by the chucks and bear a predetermined relation to the means for rotating the chucks.

Mounted on plate 11 are brackets I04 supporting a pair of pulleys I05 on shaft I08, the latter being driven from shaft 8| by suitable means (not shown). Brackets I01 support a second pair of pulleys I08 on shaft I08. These pulleys are grooved to accommodate flexible notched belts I I0, the belts being driven by pulleys I05. A magazine III containing a supply of blanks is so positioned above the belts that The feeder arm is con-' of the feeder arm equals the distance between notches I08 and the vertical movement of the arm is such that the notches in the arm engage the blanks during the upward movement of the arm to remove the blanks one at a time from shelves II2. I

As will be seen in Figs. 4 and 5, a pair of vertical guides H8 are supported by table 4. These guides are hollow and accommodate rods II4 connected at their lower ends at H5 to rockers III pivoted at H8 and to the upper ends of links II8. Arm I20 is pivotally fastened to a rod II8 connecting the lower ends of links II8, this arm beingfulcrumed on shaft 84 and carrying a follower I2I engageable with cam I22. The latter cam is designed to lower red I I4 in timed relation to the feeder arm mechanism previously described. Secured to rods II4 by means of pins or set screws I23 are a pair of arms I24 having suitably shaped recesses on their lower faces to engage the glass blanks and, in conjunction with the similarly shaped saddles 1n the feeder arm extensions, properly position the blanks.

in timed relation to the rotation of the blanks,

the mechanism shown in Fig. 2 is employed. It will be seen from the drawings that cam I28 having a plurality of risers thereon engages follower I21 on lever I28 fulcrumed at I28, the lever being connected at I30 to link I3I. Guide I32 on table 4 accommodates a vertically slidable rod I83 also connected to link I8I and sup- 81 and, consequently, reciprocation of the feeder the notches therein engage the blanks and carry porting burner I84. Suitable valve means and a pilot are provided for operation of the burner only when'it is in heating relation to the blank. It is evident that the burner is reciprocated vertically and in such timed relation to the chucks that the distance between the burner and the non-circular wall of the blank remains constant and a uniform heating of the wall results therefrom.

The means for opening the chucks is shown in Figs. 1 and 5 from which it will be seen that guides I35, I38 accommodate vertically slidable rods I31, I88 having rollers thereon. Cam I88 cooperates with follower I4I which is connected by suitable mechanism with rods I31, I38 to raise and lower the rods. Rollers I40 engage the levers 28 as they are lowered to open the chucks.

In Fig. 5 there are shown several blanks at various stages of the heating and shaping thereof. The blanks B are shown on the feeding mechanism, blank B is positioned in the chucks during the heating operation, and blank B" is a shaped blank, a portion thereof being constricted by stretching the heated blank. This may be done while the blanks are gripped by the chucks and the latter moved away from each other. The finished blanks are deposited in a suitable container I42 at the discharge end of the machine, the blanks being removed from the feeder arm by a projecting inclined plate I43 on the container when the feeder arm is lowered.

From the foregoing description of the machine the operation thereof will be apparent. The blanks B are taken from the magazine at timed intervals by the notched belt .which deposits them on the shelves 2. The feed arm moves in a path which is substantially rectangular so that it picks up a blank and positions it in-alignment with the chucks. The feed arm then remains stationary while the chucks move .toward the blank and grip it. As the feed arm is lowered; the chucks rotate the blank which is now in position'to be heated by the burner. Because of the elliptical gearing employed the angular velocity of the rotating blanks varies constantly but the linear velocity of that portion of the periphery of the blank immediately over the burner always remains the same and in a plane passing through the center of the blank and the burner. Also, the burner is moved vertically to maintain a distance between it and that portion of the a blank lying in a plane passing through the center of the blank and the burner which remains constant. Hence uniform heating of the blank is obtained. The various cams are so designed that the several operations are carried out in timed sequence'that is, the blanks are fed to the chucks which are moved in to grip the blanks and then rotate them, after which they are constricted. The finished blanks are then picked up by the notched free end of the feed arm and deposited in the discharge container.

In Fig. 6 is shown a modified arrangement of the elliptical gears, the gears 35' and 31' being eccentrically mounted on the shafts 34 and 36 respectively.

While in the example illustrated the blank is 2. Apparatus for heating and shaping a glass blank having a substantially elliptical cross section, comprising means for gripping the blank,

means for heating the blank, and change speed means for rotating said gripping means at a constantly varying .angular velocity, said change speed means including gearing having a constantly varying ratio. a

3. Apparatus for heating and shaping a glass blank having a substantially elliptical cross section, comprising means for gripping the blank,

means for heating the blank, means for rotating said gripping means, and means operated in timed relation to said last mentioned means for constantly varying the position of the burner with respect to the longitudinal center of the blank to maintain a constant distance between the heating means and that portion' of the periphery of the blank nearest the heating means.

4. Apparatus for heating and shaping a glass cry of the blank nearest the burner.

shown as being elliptical in cross-section, it is obvious that other shapes may be fabricated merely by substituting suitable gearing and cams. The invention is, therefore, not limited to the exact arrangement shown and described.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: v 1. Apparatus for heating and shaping a glass blank having a substantially elliptical cross section, comprising ineans ior grippin the blank,

means for heating the blank, and elliptical gearing for rotating said gripping means at a constantly varying angular velocity.

5. Apparatus for heating and shaping a glass blankhaving a substantially elliptical cross section, comprising means for gripping the blank, means {or heating the blank, change speed means for rotating said gripping means at a constantly varying angular velocity, said change speed means including gearing havinga constantly varying ratio, and cam mechanism operated in timed re lation to said gripping means for reciprocating said heating means, said mechanism positioning the heating means in constantly fixed spaced relation to that portion of the periphery of the blank nearest the heating mea anos nrcn'rnn. 

